Category Archives: Uncategorized

Posts from Antarctica: Logistics Update and Local History

kalley December 10, 2019 10:35 pm

Hello to you all from… still McMurdo. While we’re all frustrated to still be playing the waiting game, a ray of hope appeared last night – a plane flew from McMurdo to WAIS Divide, for the first time in over … Continue reading →

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A course in nonsense

Mark Wilson December 6, 2019 12:09 pm

For many years I’ve offered a First-Year Seminar at Wooster entitled, “Nonsense! (And Why It’s So Popular)”. Today we finished the latest version of the course. The semester went so well I want to celebrate. The class of first-year students … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: The Ross Island Trail System

kalley December 5, 2019 5:54 pm

Another day, another cancelled flight – the advance team is now hoping to get out tomorrow, December 7th. Erin said she was once delayed 3.5 weeks in McMurdo due to weather; we’re crossing our fingers that our delay is much … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s First Paleoecology Course

Mark Wilson December 5, 2019 11:44 am

This semester we introduced a new course into the Earth Sciences curriculum: Paleoecology (ESCI 215). It is the first new course I’ve developed in many years. It is designed to introduce students to ecological concepts and principles using the fossil … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Life at McMurdo Station

kalley December 3, 2019 4:27 am

The latest update is that our advance team is delayed another day, and weather at WAIS Divide is looking iffy for another few days. That makes it fairly likely that the rest of our team could be pushed into next … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 3: Communications

kalley December 1, 2019 6:47 pm

We’re crossing our fingers that weather holds well enough at WAIS Divide to get a plane out there this evening, but our advance team is currently delayed until tomorrow (December 3rd). The earliest the rest of us will get out … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 2 – Safety and Crevasse Rescue Trainings

kalley November 30, 2019 2:35 am

The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) primarily exists to support scientific research in Antarctica. In order to provide that support, one of their most important functions is to ensure the safety of all personnel involved in the research. Much of … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 1 – Staying Warm

kalley November 28, 2019 1:01 am

Before I dive into the current topic, a quick update on our logistics: Our advance team was supposed to fly out on Wednesday, November 27, but between bad weather at WAIS Divide and the holiday weekend, they are now officially delayed … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Antarctic transportation

kalley November 26, 2019 7:37 pm

Antarctica is arguably the world’s most remote landmass. There are no human native Antarcticans; by the time homo sapiens emerged, Antarctica had long-since drifted south, been isolated by the Southern Ocean, and grown an ice sheet. Captain James Cook came … Continue reading →

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Posts from Antarctica: Intro to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration and the TARSAN project

kalley November 22, 2019 7:22 pm

Greetings from McMurdo Station, Antarctica! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karen Alley and I’m a visiting assistant professor in the College of Wooster Department of Earth Sciences. I’m a glaciologist and a remote sensor, … Continue reading →

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